Allstate Arena was a HOT MESS
as far as i know, this is the only north american show that never got the email explaining the random numbered wristband system. (correct me if i’m wrong)
me and a bunch of other people in line were searching reddit, twitter, tiktok… literally everywhere trying to figure out what was going on. people were calling the venue and getting completely different answers depending on who picked up.
when we got there, we had to park across the street at target because none of the arena lots were open. eventually, rosemont police and a target employee helped us figure out where we were actually supposed to go, but even then nobody really knew what was happening.
after about 30 minutes we finally started moving, only to find out we were walking all the way around to the other side of the building… in the middle of the afternoon heat.
then once we got over there, the police came over and told us target was going to tow our cars. the problem was, a target employee had literally just told us we were fine to park there while getting wristbands and only needed to move for the actual show. we were trying to explain that to the officers because they clearly weren’t getting the same information either, and honestly none of us were mad at them because they were just as confused as we were.
some people left the line to move their cars closer, but i stayed put because i was not about to walk around that entire building again, lose my spot, and hope i could find it afterward.
after about an hour and a half, word started spreading that the wristbands weren’t actually being handed out in random numbered order. apparently they were just pulling them straight off the sheet, while a fan had been handing out unofficial numbers to keep the line organized. obviously that’s not something the arena staff is required to follow.
then the instructions somehow got even more confusing.
i was told to come back between 5:00 and 5:30. someone else was told 6:00. another person told me to look at the last three digits on my wristband because that’s supposedly the number they’d be following. at this point, i genuinely have no idea what’s actually happening.
ever since i bought this ticket, my goal has been to get barricade. honestly… i don’t even care anymore. after sitting in the sun for two hours absolutely drenched in sweat, i just want to get inside and see louis.
the nicest part of the whole experience was actually another fan, who went to target and bought a bunch of water for everyone because the venue wasn’t handing any out. we couldn’t go inside, there was almost no communication, and everyone was just standing outside in the heat trying to piece together information from different people.
the venue keeps saying it’s louis’ team’s fault, but his team is the one that created the random wristband process that’s been working at every other show. somewhere along the line, there was a massive communication breakdown, because this was an absolute clusterfuck.
i’m still so excited for tonight, but now i’m sunburnt, exhausted, and have about three hours to cool down and get ready.
just to make it clear I don’t blame Louis or his team for this. I don’t think they would’ve been happy with how this happened.